NEWS & PRESS RELEASES

Local, international impact ahead for RiSE

Local, international impact ahead for RiSE

Community events and a trip to Nicaragua are in the fall plans for RiSE, a BBC traveling worship band.

RiSE is looking ahead to several events, starting with a "Back to School"Â worship concert with the BBC student body early in the semester. BBC will also host a youth rally in September, and the team will again participate in the Lackawanna County Concert Series College Battle of the Bands.

The packed fall schedule follows a busy summer. After a May tour, RiSE split into two teams, traveling to a variety of venues in northeastern states.

The group led worship and served in churches and camps, building community and ministry experience throughout the summer.

"God taught me so much about what praise and worship is, how we worship individually and corporately," said Kyle Sparkes, a junior Pre-Seminary major from Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada. "And He opened my eyes to the beauty of grace, redemption, unity, and his church."

Scranton and NicaraguaThe team will participate with Northeast Pennsylvania Youth for Christ and Christian band Sidewalk Prophets in a See You At the Pole youth rally September 15 in the new Recreation Center.

RiSE will then compete in the Lackawanna County concert series September 21 in downtown Scranton. Bands are awarded prizes based on songs and crowd response.

Last year, RiSE won first place at the event. A prize of recording time allowed the group to produce its first album, "God Is Able."Â The praise and worship album is available online. Learn more at www.bbc.edu/rise.

In October, the team will travel to Pochomil, Nicaragua to serve with Association of Baptists for World Evangelism for 10 days, October 10-20. RiSE will be leading worship and serving missionaries during the regional Missionary Enrichment Conference. Missionaries and ministry leaders from surrounding areas including Central America, the Caribbean, and Mexico, gather for fellowship and encouragement.

The team will also have opportunities to minister in churches, schools, camps, and service projects with the missionaries.

Summer MinistryOver the summer, RiSE traveled to a variety of venues in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, West Virginia, Ohio, and Washington D.C.

The month of May was a unique time for RiSE, having a special ministry to high school students. The team traveled to Christian schools, leading worship and interacting with students.

In June and July, the group split into two teams, traveling simultaneously in different parts of the country. The tour included special concerts and leading worship at many churches and camps.

"It isn't surprising that they would do a good job and represent the college well,"Â said Daryl Neipp, pastor at New Community Baptist Church in Avon, OH. "But what really shone through was their authentic desire to point our people to Christ."

The teams loaded into the two brightly-colored passenger vans with the BBC logo and lettering on each side. See the vans here.

About RiSERiSE includes 14 BBC students. Geoff Ellsworth and Ethan and Samantha Strickland from BBC's Admissions team lead the group, handling details and logistics. Former worship pastor Geoff Ellsworth spear-headed the worship team in 2010 and provides musical instruction and leadership.

The name RiSE comes from John 3:30, "He must increase, but I must decrease" and encompasses the team's purpose: To see Jesus' name lifted higher to rise above all other names.

The team travels throughout the academic year, ministering in a variety of venues through music. Members build relationships with people, creating interesting among future students to show them how BBC can help develop skills for global Christian leadership.